Google Chromebook Pixel Concept Leaked, 2560X1700 Res with Touch

One thing about Google is that the company never rests, often blindsiding the public with products or services nobody outside of Mountain View saw coming. The original Chromebook was one such product, but might it only have been a precursor to something much more fantastic? One look at a Google's promotional video highlighting the Chromebook Pixel and it's hard to think otherwise.

The video was originally posted by developer Francois Beaufort, the same person pimping screenshots of the new "Notifications Galore!" app built by the Chrome Team to test internally the new message center in Chrome OS. He yanked the video, but once you let the cat out of the bag on the Internet, there's no putting it back in. The folks at Android Authority had the foresight to grab a copy of the clip, which we've embedded at the bottom of this article.

Google's video explains that a pixel is the smallest bit of a picture, and by itself it isn't much, "but together pixels create entire worlds. You could say like an atom, a pixel is a building block, and the more pixels we add, the more wonderful the world."

Image Source: Google via Android Authority

Cutting through the hype and prose, Google's teasing a touch-enabled Chromebook with a 2560x1700 display resolution. The video says it was designed by Google, "down to the last pixel," and according to Beaufort, the concept laptop is currently being tested by the Mountain View company.

Part of what's interesting about all this is that Google seems to be pouncing on the uncertainty surrounding Windows 8. You have the lower priced Chromebooks that were recently introduced by Acer ($199) and Samsung ($249), which are essentially modern day netbooks, and then the collaboration with HP to offer the world's first full-sized (14 inches) Chromebook, which starts at $330. While Microsoft struggles to convince the public that Windows 8 is where it's at, Google is pushing its Chromebook platform further into the limelight.

A Chromebook Pixel takes it one step further by adding touch support and a high resolution display in a sleek and sexy form factor. It's part Retina MacBook (look and resolution) and part Windows 8 laptop (touch support), but with all the benefits of Google's Chrome OS. Since it's a cloud-based platform, systems rely more on the software than the hardware, which is why Google can claim "your [Chromebook] computer actually gets better over time."